Editorial: Tappan Zee Bridge deal is good for Hudson River - and us

Mar. 29, 2013

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, right, and Brian Conybeare, the governor's special adviser on the Tappan Zee Bridge project, study a model of the planned replacement bridge on Dec. 17, in conjunction with the announcement of the team chosen to design and build a new twin-span crossing across the Hudson River. / COURTESTY/NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY AUTHORITY

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| A Journal News editorial

An aerial view of the Tappan Zee Bridge and the Hudson River in 2002. / Peter Carr / The Journal News

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• Learn more the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project at http://www.lohud.com/tappanzeebridge. • Visit the state’s website for the project, http://newNYBridge.com, to review documents, find or request a community meeting with officials, and find links to job and contracting opportunities.

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More than short-nosed sturgeon benefit from a deal made with environmental groups to win their support for a new Tappan Zee Bridge.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo touted the agreement Wednesday between the state and the environmental groups Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson: $10 million will go toward “mitigation measures” and “environmental enhancements” in and along the Hudson River. The money would pay for an independent monitor, add protections for aquatic life and remediate waters that feed the estuary.

Cuomo also announced another $1.5 million for “community-based waterfront revitalization projects.” Scenic Hudson advocated for such an investment, said the organization’s senior vice president, Steve Rosenberg. The funding, he said, can “help riverfront localities not only get through the long and massive bridge construction, but plan for better uses of the river.”

It’s an important acknowledgment — by environmentalists and the state — that the long, massive bridge construction project will disrupt more than just aquatic life. The deal also demonstrates that the bridge project can be both an environmental and economic catalyst for the region. That is something to keep in mind as a task force continues to examine how to bring mass transit to the east-west commuting corridor — and ways to pay for it.

Healthy river, healthy communities

The entire $11.5 million investment — $10 million worth of in-river protections and $1.5 million for projects in riverfront communities — will benefit Lower Hudson Valley residents in big ways. “It’s hard to separate the health of our riverfront communities from the health of the river itself,” Rosenberg told the Editorial Board. But the $1.5 million in community grants provide more tangible, and timely, opportunities for what Rosenberg described as “community revitalization and restoration.” While the funding mechanisms aren’t worked out, an existing state program could help administer grants to localities.

The funding could support current projects, or fund studies for new endeavors. Top on the list should be smart planning to adapt to climate change, especially important after the wake-up call about rising sea levels, thanks to Superstorm Sandy.

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The riverfront revitalization grants can help localities finally capitalize on their access to the majestic Hudson. More and more, communities are treating the river as “the front doorstep,” Rosenberg said, by highlighting the recreational and quality-of-life benefits of riverfront living, rather than the “back alley” designation that befell the Hudson during its industrial heyday, when the waterway was dirty and cut off from public access.

The new community revitalization funding could help keep those efforts going, or help spawn new ones. At the same time, a $10 million mitigation fund will protect the river’s environmental quality — including fixes to drainage and other problems that impact the Piermont Marsh and Sparkill Creek, which feed the estuary; replacement of oyster beds that bridge work will disrupt; limits to dredging to avoid the sturgeons’ spawning season; and other mitigations to lessen the loss of fish. Plus, a monitor who is funded by the New York State Thruway Authority — but reports to the DEC — will help ensure all these efforts are followed during a massive, complex building project.

More to come

The state has also taken some big steps on another environmental issue — mass transit. But we’re still far from a deal to finally provide commuters options in the congested east-west corridor. Cuomo scaled back the decade-long, long-stalled Tappan Zee/Interstate 287 project in 2011 — focusing just on replacing the outmoded, under-secure Tappan Zee rather than overhauling the entire I-287 corridor. Long-planned mass transit for the congested Rockland-Westchester corridor was left behind.

To meet the demands of the region’s county executives — whose support was needed to move the project forward — Cuomo formed a 28-member task force that continues to hammer out ways to bring mass transit to the corridor. The panel has a year to report on how to do that, and how to pay for it. The task force is now forming a special committee to figure out financing issues. (Toll revenue has been mentioned in early task force discussions; surely a yet-formed tolls task force will have more to say about that.)

Just as the state found a way to mitigate environmental concerns and offer support for local communities to move the state’s permitting process forward, it would be wise policy for Albany to get behind mass transit.

The state has key representation on the task force studying the issue; conspicuously missing are members from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority or Metro-North, two agencies best positioned to support mass transit in the region. (In earlier discussions with the Editorial Board, however, MTA and Metro-North officials demonstrated little enthusiasm for running an east-west commuter system in the northern suburbs.)

The more collaboration there is, the better the chances of adding mass transit options to the ever-congested Rockland-Westchester corridor, and improving the air, and quality of life — for people and all living things.